Surmet Engineering Better Material Solutions

Situational Awareness

	M-ATV armored vehicle with peephole-like side windows.

ALON® transparent armor provides unparalleled situational awareness to the warfighter from the safety of an armored vehicle.  Due to strict vehicle weight specifications, glass-based transparent armor windows need to be kept small.  The small window size coupled with the excessive thickness required for protection makes most glass armor windows more like a peep hole, compromising situational awareness for the crew.  With ALON® transparent armor, window sizes can be substantially increased without increasing weight or reducing ballistic protection.

• Light-Weight Protection:  ALON® transparent armor provides dramatic weight improvement over glass-based armor.  Glass-based armor requires areal densities of 50 pfs or greater to stop relevant threats.  ALON® transparent armor achieves the same protection at about one-half the areal density.
• Improved Transmission and Clarity:  ALON® transparent armor is exceptionally clear with very high transmission from the ultra violet (UV) through the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) wavelengths. 
• Improved Low-Light Awareness:  ALON® transparent armor also exhibits superior NVG transmittance compared to glass armor.  The NVG weighted transmittance of ALON® transparent armor in 73% versus 52% for glass transparent armor.  The 40% gain in NVG transmittance using ALON® transparent armor provides dramatic improvement in situational awareness and threat detection under low light conditions.
• Tint-Free:  ALON® transparent armor is tint free opposed to other armor solutions which can be yellow or green in hue.  ALON® armor provides an unobscured view of the immediate surroundings.